Lucy the Babysitter
by ArchangelKo
Summary: For some odd reason, Lucy is stuck with caring for Gray. Why is she 'caring' for him? Because a wanted mage cast a spell on him that made him truly believe he's only 3 years old! Can Lucy survive babysitting him while Erza is away looking for a cure?
1. Chapter 1

((This is the second Fairy Tail fanfic that I've written. I love the series! Anyways, at the time I'm posting this one, I'm still working on the other one. It's cute, you should check it out! Poor Lucy, she given so much responsibility…

This was sort of a random idea I had. A friend of mine suggested this idea and wanted me to write it.

I have a hard time saying no… This is a present to you, my Em-chan!

Anyways, this fanfic doesn't really have any pairings in it. Maybe hints, but no set pairings. Um… I guess it will take place after the Garuna arc.

I hope you enjoy it. I know Em-chan will…

Commence!))

…

"Lucy, I need you to come with me right now. It's of utter importance," Erza commanded. She had come into the guild, making a straight beeline right to the stellar mage. Poor Lucy was just minding her business, talking to Mirajane.

"Um… Okay?"

Erza grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the door. Natsu and Happy just watched, feeling a bit curious as to what was happening.

"Hey, slow down! What's going on?" Lucy asked Erza as she was pulled down the street.

"It's Gray," Erza simply answered, not explaining fully.

Lucy remembered that Erza and Gray had left a few days ago on a mission. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "What's wrong? Is he sick? Is he hurt?" she asked, nervous for her friend.

"Just come. Quickly."

Soon, they reached the town's harbor. Lucy looked around nervously, unsure of what to expect.

"This way," Erza said, letting go of Lucy's wrist. Lucy rubbed the sore spot where the armor mage had kept a gorilla grip. They walked down one of the docks, where various boats were tied down. They had to push through lots of busy, working people until they came to the end.

"Over here," Erza shouted through all the noise. Lucy finally came to a clear spot, in front of a boat. Sitting on a roll of boating rope, Gray was nervously looking up at Erza, who had come to stand beside him. The boat's captain also stood beside him, sighing in frustration.

"Um… What's the problem?" Lucy asked, not noticing anything too different. She stopped in front of them.

Erza glared down at Gray. He jumped back a little. Much to Lucy's surprise, tears of fear started forming in his eyes.

"She's so scary," he cried, grabbing onto the boatman's shirt for protection. Lucy watched as he actually started to cry.

"Um… there… there?" the guy hesitantly said, unsure of what to do.

"You see," Erza started to explain, "The job went well. But towards the end, one of the mages we were trying to capture cast some sort of spell on him. Now, for some reason, Gray has been reverted into a 3-year-old state of mind."

"Okay… But why did you bring me here?" Lucy asked, unsure of her point.

"I want you to babysit him. The mage got away from us, and I need to find him so he'll change Gray back into his normal self."

"Why didn't you do it while you were there?!"

"Because HE," Erza said in an acid tone, looking at Gray again, "Got in my way. I can't work with a little child holding me back. I have no patience for such things."

Gray had started to cry again, and blubbered, "Scary… I'm sorry, lady…" He went to wipe away his tears with his fist.

"You can let go of me now," the boatman groaned, shaking Gray's grip off of his shirt.

"Take good care of him," Erza simply said, getting back on the boat.

"W-wait! Erza! I don't know too much about little kids either!" Lucy nervously yelled to her. "Wait, don't leave me alone with him."

The woman ignored her, bidding the boat's captain to take her back to the island. Soon, Lucy found herself watching the boat sail away as she stood there next to an 18-year-old baby. She looked over to him with a bit of sympathy.

Gray looked up at her, nervous of her being another menacing person. He sniffled, looking awfully sad. His boo-boo face instantly worked its magic much like any other small child's would, causing a tugging feeling on Lucy's heartstrings.

"It's okay," she said, kneeling down so she could look up at him as he sat on the rope. "Don't cry. My name is Lucy. What's yours?"

Hesitantly, he answered, "Gray…"

"Nice to meet you Gray," she replied, making sure to show him she was friendly. He didn't seem to remember her. Or anyone. "Don't worry, we will have lots of fun together. Okay?"

He smiled childishly. "Okay!"

Lucy stood up and gently took his hand. She pulled him up, and started heading in the direction of Fairy Tail. She kept a firm grip on his hand as they passed through the crowd. Her plan was to take him to the guild first. Hopefully she could get help from the others, since she had nearly no experience with small children. Maybe Mira would know what to do. She was a very motherly figure…

Lucy felt a tug on the back of her shirt. "Hm?" She turned her head to look at Gray.

"I have to go pee," he said with a nervous expression, red in the face.

_Erza, for the sake of all things magical, please hurry back,_ Lucy groaned in her head as she realized how long the next few days were going to be.


	2. Chapter 2

((Chapter 2! Yay! It doesn't seem to be as popular as my other one.

Oh, it seems like this story is obviously a pairing between Gray and Lucy. It's not… If you want, you can imagine it is, though. I'd have to say it's not a pairings story, but there is a little bit of Lucy/Natsu in it.

Anyways, let's continue! Please R&R! (no, not rest and relaxation)

Chapter 2, commence!))

One bathroom trip later…

Fortunately, Gray was potty-trained at age 3. Lucy was completely relieved by this, even though she had gotten an eyeful of him on her first day at Fairy Tail anyways. They continued in the direction of the guild, Gray holding Lucy's hand and following behind her. He looked around at all the people and buildings with curiosity, and a hint of wonder.

Despite the inevitable trouble Lucy could see coming, she couldn't help but think that he was so cute. Gray was practically a little kid, despite the fact that he still looked 18.

Suddenly, she felt resistance. Lucy stopped to turn and look at Gray. He was staring in the direction of a festival that was being prepared. It must have been the Blue Moon Festival, since an extra full moon would be occurring this year around this date. Lucy had heard about these festivals in her travels, but never had experienced one since it only happened once every 2-3 years.

"I wanna go there," he said.

"No, Gray. We have to go to the guild," she responded, tugging on his hand. Although he acted like a 3-year-old, he still had the strength of an 18-year-old.

"But whyyyyyy?"

"Because I said so. Now stop it, you're being a hassle."

He looked a bit surprised when she said this, and suddenly started to cry. Tears flowed down his face from being reprimanded by Lucy.

Lucy shuddered, not ready for this sort of reaction. He wasn't being loud, yet people around them couldn't help but stare. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Please stop crying…" She looked around for something that could distract him.

She spotted a candy store nearby. Little kids loved candy, right? "Look! Hey, do you want a lollipop? There's a swirly one that looks like a unicorn horn. Would you like one?"

Gray smiled and nodded through his tears, then went to wipe them away. Lucy sighed in both relief and frustration.

…

Five to ten minutes later, they were back on their way to Fairy Tail. Gray was keeping busy sucking on a thin, rainbow lollipop that Lucy had bought him.

"You're a bit of a crybaby as a 3-year-old, Gray. You know that?" Lucy nervously admitted.

"Am not!" He protested, looking a bit hurt again.

Lucy decided to shut up. She couldn't risk creating another scene; she needed to get him to the guild so others could watch him.

She was too nervous about messing up and having something bad happen to him…

Lucy held his hand as they walked onwards.

"I wanna play," he suddenly said out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Lucy stopped to look at him. "Play?"

"Uh-huh. I wanna go have fun."

"Um…" Lucy thought to herself, trying to come up with something so he would keep following her. "Y-you can play at the guild, Fairy Tail! It's really fun there."

"…Promise?" he asked, looking serious.

"Yes, I promise," Lucy replied. Technically, she wasn't really lying. She had experienced so many fun things there so far. Though, whether or not a child would find it fun remained to be seen. She pulled him back on course.

…

Finally, they reached the front door of Fairy Tail. Lucy could feel the tension rolling off her shoulders already. Being a babysitter was such hard work.

"Wow…" Gray said, looking up at the big structure. "We're going in there?"

"We sure are," Lucy said, smiling.

"Okay." He looked happy now. He then stuck something in her hand and said, "Here."

It was the sticky, slimy stick of the lollipop that Gray had practically inhaled.

_Ew….._


	3. Chapter 3

((There's actually an alternate version of Chapter 2! It was written first, but I decided not to do it. Thus, you read the second version. But when I posted it, I realized it was a bit more boring… Maybe I should have put the first version of Chapter 2, even though it was a bit cliché.

So just think of Chapter two as space filler. I guess.

I'm currently debating on a plot element. If I am still undecided after a few days, I may ask one of you what you think! I will randomly select a reader and send them a message asking for an opinion.

SLEEP IN FEAR!!

Chapter 3, commence!))

Lucy tossed the stick to the side. It was paper, therefore it was biodegradable.

She opened the door and guided Gray in before he could get distracted again.

As soon as they stepped in, Natsu came flying at Gray. He tackled him roughly, obviously looking for trouble.

"I thought you had run away in fear of me!" Natsu laughed as Lucy watched in horror.

"Get off of him!" Lucy shouted, pushing Natsu off of Gray. She lifted Gray into a sitting position by his shoulders. "Are you okay?"

He didn't look at her, but he had a upset look on his face.

In a swift movement, Gray shoved her away and went to stand up. "You said this place is fun," he darkly said. "That was not fun!" He ran away to the other side of the building, a few people around them watching him in confusion.

Lucy felt a sinking feeling in her gut. It felt like guilt. Definitely guilt. Natsu looked very confused as Lucy got up and walked over to the bar area with a disappointed look on her face.

"What's going on?" Happy asked, coming over to Natsu. In return, Natsu shrugged.

"Why so blue?" Mirajane asked Lucy as she sat down.

"Well… Erza brought me to Gray. Somehow on the mission, some mage cast a spell on him so he would be turned into himself as a three-year-old. Or at least, in his mind. Now Gray hates me because I think I lied to him. I dunno…"

"What did you say?" Mira asked.

"I said this place was fun. Which I thought it technically wasn't a lie, because I have fun here all the time. I didn't take a second to think about whether or not a three-year-old would have fun at our guild."

"Ah, guilt by omission."

"Huh? I guess you're right… But I couldn't help but worry that I can't keep a good eye on him. So I brought him here."

"I'll think of something to help you out," Mira offered with a smile on her face. For some reason, Lucy found something unsettling about her smile. "For now, why don't you go talk to him?"

Lucy paused, looking off in the direction that Gray had run off to. "…Okay"

She got off her stool and went looking for him. After a bit of wandering, she spotted him underneath an empty table. With a sigh, she got down on her hands and knees then crawled under the table to sit in front of him.

Gray sat cross-legged, his arms folded with his elbows on his knees. He didn't acknowledge Lucy in front of him.

"Hey," Lucy quietly said. "… Are you hurt?"

Gray hesitantly shook his head.

"Well… I want to say I'm sorry… I didn't think you'd have fun here, but I was wanted to bring you anyways."

"…Why?" He didn't look at her.

"I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to take good care of you," she explained.

"Why?"

"… Um, I have no experience with kids?"

"Why?"

"I grew up somewhere that didn't have other kids. I don't have any siblings, either."

"… Why?"

"My parents didn't have any more kids."

"Why?"

Lucy giggled. "Okay, you're doing this on purpose," she said, grinning as she ruffled his hair.

Gray smiled with childish mischief. He went to hug Lucy. A little surprised, she paused and hugged him back.

From nearby, Natsu could see them under the table.

He didn't really look too happy.


	4. Chapter 4

((Hi! Sorry these updates were rather slow this week. I had a lot going on… Blech, family matters… Anyways, this coming week I should be getting back to regular updates. Maybe every day or two.

Sorry for the wait! I hope none of you have forgotten this… lol

Commence!))

Gray bashfully hid behind Lucy as she brought him up to Mirajane's bar. He kept a firm grip on a fold of cloth in Lucy's shirt.

"Gray, say hello," Lucy coaxed as Mira smiled.

"H-hi…"

Mirajane played along saying, "Who do we have here? What's your name?"

"It's Gray…" he replied.

"Mira, he's still Gray. You don't have to treat him any differently," Lucy sighed.

"Have some candy," Mirajane offered to Gray, holding out a bowl with individually-wrapped fruit hard candies. She ignored Lucy completely.

Gray sat down on a stool and took a candy from the bowl, taking his dear sweet time unwrapping it.

"Have as many as you want," Mira said. Gray smiled, looking more at ease.

"If he gets a sugar rush, I'm letting YOU babysit him," Lucy groaned. "I have a hard time with taking care of kids full-time without them on sugar."

She thought to herself for a minute as Gray had went about methodically smoothing out the wrappers. He had three pieces in his mouth at once. Lucy had an idea. She didn't know much about childcare, but Mirajane seemed…

Suddenly, someone grabbed her upper arm and dragged her away from the bar to the other side of the guild. Lucy turned to see who it was.

It was Natsu.

He stopped, and said, "What's going on?"

"H-huh?" she let out, a bit shaken.

"With Gray. What's going on?" He looked serious, and a bit… perturbed.

Lucy found his reaction a bit strange. "Well," she started to explain, "Gray thinks he's 3 years old, I guess. He had a spell cast on him during the mission with Erza. So he's like… a 3-year-old in an 18-year-old body."

Natsu had a look of confusion on his face.

"He doesn't remember us. Or anything that happened over the past 15 years. He probably can't even use ice magic," Lucy explained further.

She knew she said the wrong thing as Natsu started smiling.

"No! No no no! Don't you even think of picking on him!" She grabbed by the arm as he started to head back to where Gray was. "He's like a little kid!"

Natsu looked a bit devious. "He won't understand why you're being mean to him. He doesn't deserve it! Stop!" she continued to argue.

Finally getting carried away in her over-protectiveness, Lucy said, "Natsu, if you make him upset… then… then I won't like you anymore!!"

He halted at her proclamation. After a moment of silence, he turned his head to look at her out of the corner of his eye. He noticed how flustered she looked.

She gave him a look to assure him that she would hold firm. Lucy knew that she couldn't ever bring herself to 'not like' Natsu, but… She wanted to protect Gray. At least until he was better.

"What's going on?" Gray asked. Lucy noticed that Natsu had dragged her back to the bar. She was too busy trying to stop him to notice how far they had gone.

Natsu shrugged off her hand and walked away to the closest table where Happy was hanging out with Kana. He didn't look back at her.

Lucy sighed. She looked at Gray, thinking that it was probably a good idea to get him away from Natsu to be safe. She noticed Levi was in the guild headquarters today. Perfect.

…

"He has a spell cast on him. He's 3 years old now," Lucy quickly and simply explained, tired of giving the full story. She patted Gray on the shoulder. Lucy had brought him over to Levi's table from the bar. He looked a bit nervous and stiff, but he waved at Levi.

"… I see," he replied with a smile. "Do you want to hear a story, Gray?"

His expression grew sunny as he nodded happily. He took a seat on the floor in front of his new friend, ready to listen. Lucy stayed to make sure that Gray was content.

After a few minutes, Lucy motioned to Levi that she would be right back.

She walked back to Mirajane at the bar, and asked for a drink. "Preferably something sweet. Do you have pomegranate juice?"

"Of course," Mira replied, getting a glass ready. "Oh, yes. I have a solution for your worries about taking care of Gray."

"R-really?" Lucy gasped. She hoped that Mira would take custody of him.

"Yes. I found someone who wanted to help you watch him."

Lucy was a bit disappointed, but relieved that she wouldn't be alone at the same time. But… "Who is it?" she asked.

"Natsu," Mira simply replied.

Lucy jumped in surprise, and shakily peeked over her own shoulder to glance back at Natsu. He stared at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Here's your juice."


	5. Chapter 5

((I really can't apologize enough for my prolonged absence… The beginning of college is so busy and hard… I will try to be more diligent now!

Again, I'm sorry! Here's the next chapter!

Commence!))

Lucy walked down the street, towing Gray behind her. She held his hand tight as he looked around.

Letting out a sigh, Lucy stopped. Gray lightly bumped into her, a bit nervous. Lucy turned her gaze to behind her, glaring. Gray looked in the same direction, noticing that someone had been following them around all this time.

Sure enough, it was Natsu. He stared at the space where Gray's and Lucy's hands were joined, a perturbed look on his face.

"How much longer are you planning on following us?" Lucy spat. Gray was a little frightened by her sudden mood change.

"I said I would help out," he responded, his eyes now fixed on her face.

"I don't need your help," she said. "Gray doesn't either. You'll just beat him up!"

Gray jumped a little, edging further away from Natsu to hold a fold in the fabric of Lucy's shirt. "I-I don't want to be beaten up, LucyNee-san…" His eyes grew a bit teary.

"It's okay, I won't let big bad old Salamander hurt you," she said, pulling his head to her shoulder to cry on as if to shield him, while staring pointedly at Natsu. Lucy didn't seem to mind the new Gray much now. She was a bit… happy to have someone to protect. Someone who relied on her.

Natsu looked away, glaring at nothing. Yet, he didn't make any motion to leave them.

With a sigh, Lucy started to walk away again, pulling Gray alongside her. He kept checking over his shoulder to keep an eye on Natsu as he followed them. Lucy quickly pulled Gray down a street. He had pointed out the Blue Moon Festival earlier. It could be fun, not to mention a way to lose Natsu in the crowds.

He was behaving so childishly about Gray's illness.

Natsu followed after them, his hands shoved in his pockets. Lucy and Gray weaved through groups of people, towards all of the festivities. The town had plenty of booths with games and events. There would be plenty of time for those after Natsu was off her back.

After a several minutes of spontaneous direction-changing, Lucy and Gray had managed to shake him off.

Natsu stood there, now alone, craning his neck around to try and spot the two among the hubbub. It was impossible…

Natsu looked to the ground. He lightly kicked a pebble in frustration, and then walked away.

…

"See, Gray? You just have to knock the bottles over with the ball," Lucy explained, tossing a ball about the size of her fist up and down.

Gray stared at the small pyramid of bottles nearby the stand's owner. He looked a bit confused by the 18-year-old's naïve frame of mind.

Lucy turned around to look at the bottles, taking aim. In a one swift movement, she tossed the ball straight at the pyramid. Gray watched in wonder as it missed by an inch or two. The bottles were left intact.

"That was awesome, LucyNee-san!" he exclaimed happily, even though she didn't manage to get anything.

Lucy sighed. "Would you like to give it a shot?" she offered him.

Gray noticed the stand owner staring at him. Gray shook his head no, too nervous. He took Lucy's hand, and pulled her away.

"Darn… and I really wanted to win a prize," she dejectedly said to no one in particular. Gray looked at her, and then thought to himself. "Why don't we get something to eat? It's almost time for dinner," she suggested.

"Okay…" Gray said, not really paying attention.

Lucy brought him over to a sectioned-off area of food vendors and picnic tables. Bidding him to sit down and stay at an empty table, Lucy then walked off to a nearby vendor. After standing in a line for a few minutes, she was able to order two hotdogs with ketchup and mustard.

Lucy made her way out of the thickening line and back to the area with tables. She looked around for Gray. Suddenly, she felt her heart skip a beat.

She couldn't see Gray.

Lucy walked around to each of the tables, looking for him frantically. She only became more nervous as she realized that he wasn't there. She dropped the hotdogs on a nearby table, and rushed out of the table area. She surveyed it one more time to see if she overlooked him.

No.

Gray was missing.

…

Lucy ran around the festival grounds, out of breath. She spent the last ten to twenty minutes running down the streets. It was hard… The Blue Moon Festival was so large…

She had worked up a sweat, out of breath and in a panic. Lucy stopped for a minute to try and calm down.

But it was no use… He was only 3 years old in his mind. Gray could get into so much trouble. What if he was hurt? What if he was lost? What if he was scared? What if someone had taken advantage of this situation and kidnapped him?

Lucy could feel herself tearing up a bit. She rubbed her eyes, then looked around. The sun was almost set all the way. She pushed her way through people, not giving up.

Lucy did another run-around of the streets, keeping a very close eye out.

_I can't believe this… Leaving him alone was such a stupid mistake… What was I thinking?_ Lucy thought. _I should have been more careful…_

"Gray?! Gray!!" she called out. But there was no response over the noise from the surrounding people.

Exhaustion finally set in. Lucy collapsed to her knees, completely tired, and disappointed with herself. She slowly and shakily tried to pick herself up.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her forearm and pulled her to her feet. Surprised, Lucy looked up to see who it was.

Natsu stared at her in return, letting go of her. "Looking for something?" he blankly asked.

Lucy noticed his other hand occupied by something. He was holding someone else's wrist. Looking around him, she realized that it was Gray! Natsu had found Gray.

He looked unharmed, just a little down. "Sorry, LucyNee-san," he apologized, holding out his hand. He held several pieces of candy out to her. "I tried to win a prize for you, but I didn't do so good… I did get some candy for you. Is that okay?"

Relief and happiness washing over her, Lucy pulled Gray into a hug as Natsu let go of him. "I'm just happy that you're okay! Don't wander off again, okay?" she said, her voice warbling a bit.

"Okay," he said, nodding. Gray hugged her back.

"Hold on," Lucy said, backing away from him. Gray watched her curiously.

Lucy turned to look at Natsu. He had been looked away a bit agitated, then noticed her focus on him. Natsu hesitantly met her gaze.

"Thank you… Natsu," she said. Lucy stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. "You're a life saver."

Natsu blushed a little bit, silent for a few seconds. Then realizing his lack of response, Natsu hurriedly said, "H-hey, get off. You're all sweaty! Gross!"

She stepped back with a giggle as he looked away with a 'hmph', his arms crossed.

"Thanks. Now, let's go home," she said, taking Gray's hand. He stuffed the candy in her pocket. She walked away a bit, then stopped, noticing that Natsu hadn't moved.

Lucy turned her head to look over her shoulder. "Well? Are you coming?" she asked him.

"Eh?" He looked at her in surprise.

"Do you want me to hold your hand, too?" Lucy joked, holding her free hand out.

"Yeah, right!" he growled. Natsu joined them, as they all headed in the direction of Lucy's apartment.


End file.
